An artist's impression
peter_asirvatham@yahoo.co.in
The Day Five of our pilgrimage to the Holy Lands in April-May 2008 was a truly memorable one. The day's itinerary started with the visit to The Chapel of Ascension on the Mount of Olives and ended at The Garden Tomb of Jesus Christ - chronology wise - Ascension and Resurrection.
When I first saw the tour itinerary from Brother Raphael, our tour organiser, I wondered how awesome it'd be if the itinerary had been planned in such a way to visit the places in a chronological order of the life of Jesus (something like Michael Palin's travelogues). The itinerary should have been something like the following: start from Bethlehem (Jesus' birth place), then go to Egypt (where the Holy family fled to), return to Israel - Nazareth (where Jesus grew up), then to Jerusalem (where the Holy family visited every year), from there to Galilee/Caphernaum (where he ministered), go to Caesarea Philippi and so on and so forth and, finally end at the Mount of Olives from where Jesus ascended to Heaven.
Indeed such an itinerary would have been wonderful, tracing the steps of Jesus' life, martyrdom and ascension, but practical it would not have been for the tour organiser and for the pilgrims.
This Lent as I reflect upon that memorable day's itinerary (which included St. Peter's Church - where the Apostle Peter denied knowing Jesus), another chronology from the Bible comes to mind. This is from the first two chapters of Acts.
Then [the disciples] returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives (after Jesus' Ascension), a Sabbath day's walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. (Acts 1: 12-13)
In all probability the disciples would have taken the same route that we took that day, that is, descended from the Mount of Olives, down the Palm Sunday road, cross the Kidron Valley and reach Mount Zion where the "Upper room" is. (The difference being we were driven in a Mercedez Benz bus from the Garden of Gethsemane to Mount Zion.)
Again, when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples on the day of Pentecost, Peter witnessed about Jesus Christ.
Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. (Acts 2: 14-41)
peter_asirvatham@yahoo.co.in
The Day Five of our pilgrimage to the Holy Lands in April-May 2008 was a truly memorable one. The day's itinerary started with the visit to The Chapel of Ascension on the Mount of Olives and ended at The Garden Tomb of Jesus Christ - chronology wise - Ascension and Resurrection.
When I first saw the tour itinerary from Brother Raphael, our tour organiser, I wondered how awesome it'd be if the itinerary had been planned in such a way to visit the places in a chronological order of the life of Jesus (something like Michael Palin's travelogues). The itinerary should have been something like the following: start from Bethlehem (Jesus' birth place), then go to Egypt (where the Holy family fled to), return to Israel - Nazareth (where Jesus grew up), then to Jerusalem (where the Holy family visited every year), from there to Galilee/Caphernaum (where he ministered), go to Caesarea Philippi and so on and so forth and, finally end at the Mount of Olives from where Jesus ascended to Heaven.
Indeed such an itinerary would have been wonderful, tracing the steps of Jesus' life, martyrdom and ascension, but practical it would not have been for the tour organiser and for the pilgrims.
This Lent as I reflect upon that memorable day's itinerary (which included St. Peter's Church - where the Apostle Peter denied knowing Jesus), another chronology from the Bible comes to mind. This is from the first two chapters of Acts.
Then [the disciples] returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives (after Jesus' Ascension), a Sabbath day's walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. (Acts 1: 12-13)
In all probability the disciples would have taken the same route that we took that day, that is, descended from the Mount of Olives, down the Palm Sunday road, cross the Kidron Valley and reach Mount Zion where the "Upper room" is. (The difference being we were driven in a Mercedez Benz bus from the Garden of Gethsemane to Mount Zion.)
Again, when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples on the day of Pentecost, Peter witnessed about Jesus Christ.
Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. (Acts 2: 14-41)
In the chronology of events described above, the itinerary of our Day Five (April 30, 2008) fits perfectly - the Ascension at The Mount of Olives and Resurrection from The Garden Tomb of Jesus Christ!
Our first day in Jerusalem (two days and two nights) ended at The Garden Tomb of Jesus Christ. In the serene garden that evening we had the Holy Communion. What a privilege it was to renew our faith by partaking of the bread and wine from near a place believed to be the tomb of our Lord.
The Garden Tomb is one of those rare places we saw in our tour that was preserved in its near original form. As I stood before the empty tomb, listening to Mr. Bob McLean the guide present evidence that fits the tomb's description from the gospels, I could visualise the shock and confusion and later the joy that came upon the women and apostles' minds that first Easter. Now, "How would the tomb of Jesus Christ looked like two thousand years ago?" is a question I can answer with some imagination.
Presented below is "my impression" of how the Tomb could have looked like that first Easter evening. I had used Adobe Photoshop (an image editing software) to remove and add some elements in the original photograph. The "sky" is from another image - the Judean wilderness where Jesus fasted for forty days before the beginning of his ministry. Hope you like the picture.
"HE IS NOT HERE-FOR HE IS RISEN" Happy Easter!
"An artist's impression" of how The Tomb of Jesus Christ could have looked like on the evening of the first Easter Sunday.
The Garden Tomb of Jesus Christ as it existed on the evening of April 30, 2008
Those interested in visiting the official website of
Those interested in visiting the official website of
The Garden Tomb click here.
3 comments:
He is risen! He is risen indeed! Thanks for the pictures.
Great Rajappa.. Thanks for all the info on the garden tomb et all.. only hope we will also have the opportunity of seeing all those beautiful places..
Thanks a lot for all the info and the pics.. Yes, Our Lord is risen and alive today and forever more!
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